Iran to blacklist U.S. military if it designates Guards as terrorists

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Iran may put the U.S. military on its terror list if Washington designates Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards as terrorists, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday.

"If the Revolutionary Guards are placed on America's list of terrorist groups, we will put that country's military on the terror blacklist next to Daesh (ISIL)," Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, head of Iranian parliament's national security committee, said on Twitter.

Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) march during the annual military parade marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war in Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2018. /VCG Photo

The United States is expected to designate the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization, three U.S. officials told Reuters, marking the first time Washington has formally labelled another country's military a terrorist group.

The decision, which critics warn could open U.S. military and intelligence officials to similar actions by unfriendly governments abroad, is expected to be announced by the U.S. State Department, perhaps as early as Monday, the officials said. It has been rumored for years.

The Pentagon declined to comment and referred queries to the State Department. The State Department and White House also declined to comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks after meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjartonot in Budapest, Hungary, February 11, 2019. /VCG Photo

The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has advocated for the change in U.S. policy as part of the Trump administration's tough stance toward Tehran.

The announcement would come ahead of the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran and to reimpose sanctions that had crippled Iran's economy.

The administration's decision to make the designation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The United States has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the IRGC, but the organization as a whole is not.

IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks at a news conference in Tehran, February 7, 2011. /VCG Photo

In 2007, the U.S. Treasury designated the IRGC's Quds Force, its unit in charge of operations abroad, "for its support of terrorism," and has described it as Iran's "primary arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist and insurgent groups."

Iran has warned of a "crushing" response should the United States go ahead with the designation.

IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari warned in 2017 that if Trump went ahead with the move "then the Revolutionary Guards will consider the American army to be like Islamic State (ISIL) all around the world."

Meanwhile, former Under-Secretary of State and lead Iran negotiator, Wendy Sherman, said she worried about implications for U.S. forces.

"One might even suggest since it's hard to see why this is in our interest if the president isn't looking for a basis for a conflict," said Sherman, who is director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. "The IRGC is already fully sanctioned and this escalation absolutely endangers our troops in the region."

Source(s): Reuters